The present invention relates to dispensers with which lengths of sheet material may be manually dispensed from rolled supplies of the sheet materials carried on the dispensers, which dispensers include cutting members having sharp cutting edges adapted for transversely cutting dispensed lengths of the sheet materials from the rolls of sheet materials remaining on the dispensers, and further include means for protecting users of the dispensers from the cutting members between their uses to cut the sheet materials.
The art is replete with dispensers with which lengths of sheet materials may be manually dispensed from supplies of the sheet materials (typically in rolls) that are carried on the dispensers, which dispensers include cutting members having cutting edges adapted for transversely cutting dispensed lengths of the sheet materials from the supplies of sheet materials remaining on the dispensers, and which dispensers further include means for protecting users of the dispensers from the cutting members between their uses to cut the sheet materials. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,229,961; 4,989,769 describing a guard for a cutting blade adapted to cut folded polymeric sheet material described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,767; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/855,687 filed May 14, 1997, (International Publication Number WO 98/51603); U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/052,400 filed Mar. 31, 1998, (International Publication Number WO 99/49804); and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/571,590 filed May 16, 2000, provide illustrative examples.
The present invention provides a portable dispenser with which lengths of a sheet material may be manually dispensed from a supply roll of the sheet material carried on the dispenser, which dispenser includes means for providing a cutting edge adapted for transversely cutting a dispensed length of the sheet material from the supply of sheet material remaining on the dispensers, and which dispenser further includes means for protecting users of the dispenser from the cutting edge between their uses to cut the sheet material which is either less expensive, more effective for the intended use, or simpler to use than such means that have been provided on known prior art dispensers.
The portable dispenser according to the present invention comprises a frame including a bridging portion adapted to extend along a portion of the periphery of the roll of sheet material to position opposite ends of the bridging portion at end surfaces of the roll, and end wall portions fixed to the ends of the bridging portion and adapted to extend along the opposite end surfaces of the roll of sheet material; and means on the end wall portions adapted for journaling the roll of sheet material for rotation about its axis with the end surfaces of the roll adjacent the end wall portions of the frame and the bridging portion of the frame extending along the periphery of the roll. The frame further includes a resiliently flexible cantilevered portion having a proximal edge fixed to the bridging portion. Means for providing a sharp cutting edge are positioned along an opposite distal edge of the cantilevered portion. A guard portion of the frame extends between its end wall portions and has a inner surface extending along the side of the cutting edge opposite the roll. That cantilevered portion is normally positioned in a retracted position at which the cutting edge is spaced from the roll of sheet material and is positioned adjacent the inner surface of the guard portion to restrict contact with the cutting edge by a person handling the dispenser such as to withdraw a length of sheet material from the dispenser. The cantilevered portion can be manually flexed by a person grasping the outer surface of the frame to move the cutting edge away from the inner surface of the guard portion to a cutting position at which sheet material being pulled from the roll can be engaged with the cutting edge to transversely sever the sheet material.
In its retracted position the cantilevered portion can be slightly flexed to bias the cutting edge against the inner surface of the guard portion.
The means for providing a sharp cutting edge along the distal edge of the cantilevered portion can comprise a metal cutting blade attached to the cantilevered portion along its distal edge, in which case the cantilevered portion can be slightly flexed in the retraced position to bias that metal cutting blade against the inner surface of the guard portion. In this case, the distal edge of the cantilevered portion of the frame can be spaced from the inner surface of the guard portion (which facilitates molding the frame as a single unit), and the metal cutting blade extends from the distal edge of the cantilevered portion to and along the inner surface of the guard portion.